Hello, Goodbye
by Lancelotlaureate
Summary: An extended scene and a re-write for Dodo's entrance and exit from the TARDIS.


The Doctor asked Steven to show Dodo around the ship but he could barely pull her attention away from the central console and all the blinking lights and switches. He didn't want to admit that showing Dodo the TARDIS would make a welcome distraction from having to confront his previous argument with the Doctor- after all- the Doctor didn't seem to have any intention of dealing with his protests. They both had their own opinion and neither was in the mood to budge.

Dodo on the other hand was filled with a wide-eyed wonder and an innocence that Steven was afraid of. He wasn't entirely sure that they could keep her safe but there was no time to mull over it. It had happened, she was with them, and there was nothing they could do to change the circumstances.

"This way," Steven said, tugging at the girl's sleeve. "Do you want to see the rest of the ship or not?"

"I still don't believe you that it _is_ a ship," she replied as she followed him out of the two doors and into an alcove.

"What do you think it is a fairground ride?"

Steven pulled her away as her hand reached toward the food machine. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to touch what's not yours?"

Dodo folded her arms. "You must be fun at parties. Sounds just like me aunt."

"Well good, maybe someone around here needs to be like your aunt. And that's another thing, aren't you the least bit concerned that you may never see her again or your home?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I know this is all some silly charade."

Steven placed his hands on his hips. "I give up! It doesn't bother you at all?"

"Well I suppose you and the old man are a bit odd. You're not a couple of serial killers are you?"

"We could be and that's why you should be a little bit worried."

"What?" Dodo said, backing away from him. "You've kidnapped me? On purpose?"

Steven sighed. "No, believe me, this time the kidnapping on the Doctor's part was entirely accidental."

"This time?" Dodo backed further away. "You're having me on aren't you? Did big Tony put you up to this?"

Steven silently mouthed 'Big Tony' but didn't reply to her question. "Look, all I'm saying is, you seem to be taking this far too easily. But just to reassure you about us two, the Doctor and I, we're not serial killers, we're not bad people really, well… _I'm_ not anyway." The last part of his sentence sounded harsh and cutting.

"Yeah what is it with you two anyway?" Dodo asked as she followed Steven as he made the way to the wardrobe room. "You could cut the tension with a knife."

"Just a disagreement," he replied, spinning around to face her but when he did, he noticed her speed past him and into the room ahead. He caught up with her. "Slow down."

"Fab!" she said as she saw the massive room floor to ceiling with clothes of every kind. "It's like the opposite of Narnia."

"What?"

"Coming into a magical world and ending up in a wardrobe."

Steven had no idea what Narnia was but found himself swatting her hands away from items of clothing which were entirely impractical. She looked at him. "I don't even know you're name do I?"

"Steven Taylor. Look, why don't you choose an outfit you like, the Doctor won't mind? Pick something casual for a trip. It'll help you settle in a bit."

Dodo spun around holding a long ballroom gown in her arms. Steven snatched it away. "Not that!"

She ignored him and placed a bowler hat on her head. "What's the Doctor's name?"

Steven took the bowler hat and flung it into the depths of the wardrobe. Before she had a chance to pick up a Stetson, he pulled her arms away again. "He doesn't have a name, he's just the Doctor."

"Well that's silly, everyone has a name."

"More silly than being called Dodo?"

"Alright, get your point but it isn't really a believable alias is it?"

Steven sighed. "The name thing bothers you but the time and space travel is not in the least bit strange?"

"Time travel?" Dodo laughed. "I bet we're gonna meet Morlocks next! Haven't got Rod Taylor hiding about in here have you, not related by any chance?"

"I don't know who Rod Taylor is. I'm not from the 1960's."

Dodo hadn't taken in his words as she held up a glittery jumpsuit in front of her at the mirror side.

Steven could barely keep his eyes open, he was so tired and still reeling from his traumatic experience in Paris- he felt like he could sleep for days. It was even harder for him to function when Dodo shared such a resemblance with Anne Chaplet and was reminding him every moment that the poor girl had probably perished in the massacre. He sat down upon one of the armchairs by the door and rested his eyes, ignoring the images of fire and brutality in his mind.

Dodo looked at her appearance in the mirror, straightening her hair which had become unruly. In the mirror she could see Steven in the background with his eyes closed. "So, not from my time then, so you're what, a time traveller now?"

He kept his eyes closed as he spoke. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I'm from the future and the Doctor's an alien."

Steven jumped to attention the moment Dodo burst into laughter and threw the jumpsuit onto the floor as though she was in her own bedroom rather than someone else's home. "Now you're just having me on again!"

He sighed deeply, feeling he was losing the battle with trying to convince her, but knew soon enough that Dodo would be greeted with her first alien world or historical period and would have to face the harsh realities. Besides he couldn't be too hard on her, he too hadn't believed the TARDIS was a time machine when he first stumbled aboard.

"Look, believe what you want, Dodo, but you're in my care now and you need to be wary, that's all. You don't know anything about this life."

"Well then you'll help me won't you? Never had an older brother. Always fancied a big family. Never had a grandpa neither, now looks like I might have both."

Steven suddenly felt sorry for Dodo. If she was so blasé and naïve it was probably because she didn't have any excitement in her life and no-one to care for her. He got up from his chair and made his way to the racks of clothes. He pulled out a plain t-shirt and a pair of small jeans. "Here, what about these?" He thought he was being nice by offering her something.

Dodo grimaced. "Not digging those. I need something a bit adventurous. I mean, if this is a time machine and a space-ship I need to look the part."

She squealed as she saw the crusader outfit hanging on one of the coat-hangers next to a blood-stained tunic that she didn't seem to notice. "That's more like it."

She looked at Steven who stared dumbfounded at her choice.

"Well, where do I change, I'm not going to strip off with you standing there am I?"

Steven pointed to the large ornate dressing screen in the corner of the room. "You know we're probably not going to land in the Crusades which is probably the only time you could actually look right in that outfit? Even then it's probably not historically accurate."

Dodo laughed as she scurried behind the screen and started to undress, throwing her coat and previous clothes over the screen. "You really are like a big brother, trying to tell me how to dress."

"I don't mean to boss you about I'm just trying to prepare you for what's next."

"Because if we're talking about clothes, your outfit isn't exactly right either."

Steven looked down at his shirt and trousers. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing's wrong exactly but where's the fun in it?"

"It's not meant to be fun, it's meant to be practical."

"Oh you're _practical_ alright." She emerged from behind the screen, ready to go in her new outfit, grinning proudly.

Steven couldn't help but laugh. She certainly liked to be different and he knew he had his work cut out for their next adventure. She still didn't seem to believe that this wasn't a game and only time would tell how she was going to cope to the universe outside the TARDIS doors.

But he liked her. She was friendly and she was fun and she was a welcome change from travelling solely with the Doctor. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

He smiled and put his arm around her. "Come on then, let's go outside, see where we've landed."

"Fab!"

…

The Doctor looked at Dodo through the kitchen window as she sat in the garden, resting gently on a garden chair. Dodo's aunt had been called away and it felt like the perfect time for him to pay a visit and see how his young companion was doing after the WOTAN incident. He ventured outside, narrowing his eyes as the sun beat down upon him.

Dodo jumped when she heard him coming, shaken for the briefest of moments. In her mind she still thought someone was trying to hurt her. When she realised it was the Doctor, she smiled, not as wide as her usual confident beam, but enough for the time being.

"Oh Doctor, I'm glad it's you."

The Doctor smiled and sat down on the adjacent garden seat. "Now, now my dear, I realise this has been very difficult for you and…well…I thought maybe we should let you rest for a few days before we resume our travels together." He patted her gently on the knee.

Dodo forced a smile. She didn't know how to tell him. How could she tell him that she didn't want to travel anymore? He seemed so lost without everyone around him, how could she hurt his feelings in that way?

"So what do you say hmm?" His hazel eyes looked at her with such warmth that Dodo buried her head into the seat cushion.

"Oh Doctor," she said, finally coming up for air. "I can't come with you."

The Doctor's eyes darted back and forth, unsure what to think or what to say. It wasn't entirely unusual for him to hear these words but it stung nevertheless.

"Say something, Doctor."

The Doctor patted her hand softly. "Well my dear, you must do as you please." He kept his answer brief but inside there were a million different things he wanted to say.

Dodo too wanted to say a thousand words but found it difficult to begin. "It's not that I don't love travelling with you, I do, it's just with WOTAN and all the horrible things I've seen, I worry that it's changing me."

"I don't believe that child, not at all."

"I'm scared, Doctor. For the first time since I wandered into your ship and acted like I was so brave, so grown up, it's dawned on me that it's really quite scary and I'm not invincible. And then Steven left."

The Doctor smiled. "Ah I thought he might have made an impact on your decision. His departure affected you greatly, didn't it?"

Dodo wiped away a tear from her cheek. "I miss him. It's not the same travelling without him, oh I don't mean to say we don't have a laugh, Doctor, but it really hit me when he left us."

"He's doing a great thing, my dear. We should be very proud of him."

"I am. And that's what I mean. I need to do something to be proud of, something here, something not for my aunt or you or Steven, just for me."

"I think that is very grown up of you, my dear, and I shall oblige your request wholeheartedly, though I must say it will be strange tinkering about all on my own after such a crowded ship."

Dodo leapt from her seat and hugged him tightly. "Oh Doctor, I'm sorry, I don't want to be the cause of your loneliness."

"Nonsense, child, you and the others have given me many pleasures, it's time I went on my own for a while, besides, maybe the peace and quiet will do me good."

She pulled the Doctor to his feet. "I'm going to miss you, Doctor."

The Doctor bristled and looked awkwardly down at her. The memories of his other companions leaving him came into his mind and he was overcome with an emotion that he couldn't express. "Yes, well, I suppose I better be off. Time waits for no man."

Dodo smiled. She knew that was the best she was going to get. "Promise me you'll find someone, Doctor. You can't talk to yourself out there in the big universe."

"Why ever not, after all I'm always the best conversationalist?"

She laughed. "You need someone to disagree with."

The Doctor coughed lightly. Perhaps she was right, it was an inevitability really that someone else would come into his life. He never planned to have companions before, but they all turned up, one by one, changing his life for the better. And then they'd leave so he was left with emptiness inside. Dodo wasn't the first and she surely wouldn't be the last.

"Goodbye my dear, take care of yourself."

"You too, Doctor. Have a fab time!"

He waved goodbye and headed down the street in the direction of the main road. When he was out of sight, Dodo picked up the phone to ring Polly.

"Hi, it's Dodo," she said as tears formed in her eyes. "Does Ben still have one of the Doctor's keys? Listen, can you do me a favour and drop it off to him?"


End file.
